General
June 5, 2021
7 minutes read

Cybersecurity Startup SentinelOne Files For IPO

If you’ve been in the news lately, you’ve likely been reminded of the eminent importance of cybersecurity given the numerous…

If you’ve been in the news lately, you’ve likely been reminded of the eminent importance of cybersecurity given the numerous ransomware attacks in vogue right now. With many operations usually done offline now moving online, the need to protect data is now much more prominent, and cybersecurity has been strengthened as a hot industry at that.

Now, one of the hottest startups in the hot cybersecurity industry has filed for an IPO. That startup is SentinelOne, part of a crop of startups to infuse artificial intelligence in the cybersecurity process.

SentinelOne has unveiled an S-1 filing for an IPO with the SEC. The filing shows its plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

As usual, SentinelOne’s S-1 filing provides great insight into the company’s business with information publicly disclosed for the first time. Here, we’re breaking down some of that information, mostly on its revenue stats.

By the Numbers

In the three months ending April 30, 2021, SentinelOne had 108% year-over-year revenue growth to $37mn.

In its last fiscal year ending January 31, 2021, the company had $93mn in revenue, a double from $46.5mn in the previous year.

On a net basis, SentinelOne isn’t profitable. It reported a net loss of $118mn in fiscal 2021 and $77mn in the previous year. In the three months ending April 30, it reported a $63mn net loss.

At least, SentinelOne has high revenue growth to justify its considerable net losses.

Competition

In its S-1 document, SentinelOne highlighted competitors including CrowdStrike and VMware as endpoint security providers and legacy anti-virus providers like McAfee and Symantec.

CrowdStrike was particularly referred to as SentinelOne’s “main competitor” by the company’s CEO. That CrowdStrike has had a spectacular run on the public markets, going public at $34 in 2019 and now trading at $207.

With CrowdStrike’s positive fate, one can hope SentinelOne will have a similar fate on the public markets.

Just like CrowdStrike, SentinelOne offers an endpoint security platform for enterprises that uses AI to help detect and manage cyber threats.

Highlights

SentinelOne was founded in 2013 by a group of cybersecurity experts in Israel, a country famous for its top-notch cybersecurity expertise. Though, the company relocated its headquarters to Mountain View in California.

In eight years, SentinelOne grew rapidly on the backs of $700mn in venture funding. The company was valued at $3bn when it last raised funding in November 2020.

SentinelOne’s VC backers include Insight Venture Partners (with a 15.7% pre-IPO stake), Tiger Global (12.4%), and Third Point Ventures (11.3%). Alongside, key individual shareholders include CEO Tomer Weingarten (3.9%) and COO Nicholas Warner (1.1%).